DUI Myths
I can't get a DUI if I'm under 21.
- If you operate a motor vehicle and your abilty to safely drive has been impaired (diminished) by alcohol, you could be convicted of DUI.
Chewing tobacco, drinking mouthwash, sucking on a penny, or eating an onion will give false readings on the breath instrument.
- Good luck with that . . . These are scientific instruments, designed to read the percent of alcohol in your blood-stream. It doesn't matter what else you just ate or drank. They are geared only to look for one thing: alcohol. They work.
They cannot arrest you if you refuse the tests.
- Refusing the field sobriety manuevers will not earn you a free pass and doesn't mean jurors won't view your refusal as an indication you knew you should not have been driving.
- Consider this: if you take the tests and you are not impaired, you won't get a DUI. Better yet, don't drive DUI and you won't have to worry!
If I just stick with beer, I won't get drunk.
- As many as eight out of ten people who get DUIs or are involved in alcohol-related crashes report beer as their alcohol beverage of choice.
- Twelve ounces of ordinary beer contains the same amount of alcohol as a shot of liquor or a glass of wine.
When I serve alcohol at a party, I'm not liable for what happens to guests when they drive home.
- Montana recognizes the liability of the social host under a version of the Dram Shop Act. Juries are increasingly being asked to hold social hosts accountable.
- While it has been applied to bars, the private host should be concerned about this in the same way they are concerned if someone is injured on their property.
I can sober myself up with a cold shower or a strong cup of coffee.
- The essential factor in sobering up, lowering your blood alcohol content and impairment level, is TIME.
- A drunk who drinks coffee and takes a cold shower is just a wide-awake drunk until the alcohol is metabolized from the system.